Louder than Words
by Traveling Trainer
Summary: The day after a near-tragic accident, he decided that he would delay telling her about his feelings no longer. A somewhat fluffy standalone oneshot based in my Unova Reflection.


The first thing she knew when she regained consciousness was that her eyes were tightly shut.

The second thing she knew was that her arm felt like it had been hit by a Buffalon. Really, really hard.

Erin sat up, groaning, and her head suddenly spiked, pounding and aching relentlessly. She attempted to grasp it with her hands, yelping loudly when her right arm jolted suddenly in immense pain, and she grasped at it, feeling the hard plastic of a splint covering the bone, holding it in place. She hissed until the pain subsided, and she suddenly felt a pair of paws grasping her good hand.

"Erin, you're awake...!" She opened her eyes to look into a Futachimaru's big, worried black ones. She smiled lopsidedly at him, and his face grew ecstatic.

"Cyan." She let out an 'ooof!' as the otter leapt at her, pinning her to the bed and nuzzling her cheek softly, and blushed as he did so. "Cyan, what... why are you...?"

"I'm... I'm... I just..." He stroked her cheek and she shivered. His voice was muffled and rather difficult to hear, and it sounded... blubbery? She patted his side as he stepped back, and she was surprised to notice dark, wet patches under his eyes. Unless he had used a Water Gun on himself, wet patches under your eyes only meant one thing, and that thing was completely out of Cyan's character, at least not since he had evolved into a Futachimaru.

"Cyan... were you... were you _crying_?" He sniffled a little before rubbing his nose and clearing his throat, obviously trying to stay calm.

"Why shouldn't I, Erin? You nearly... nearly..." He broke into a fresh round of tears and grasped Erin tightly, hugging her, causing Erin to blush heavily again. She looked at her splint, a green plastic thing attached to most of her arm, and sighed, letting her enjoy the feeling of Cyan doing nothing more than holding her. They stayed there for a while, Cyan sobbing into Erin's pillow, until a few small strands of sunlight began to make their way through the curtains, one landing on the two of them. They pulled apart, Cyan having finally regained his composure, although he did have to wipe his eyes every so often. Erin looked at her splint again, then back at Cyan.

"How... where did this come from?"

Cyan sighed. "You... you don't remember? The Electric Rock Cave?"

Erin closed her eyes and hummed, thinking to herself. She remembered a stone creature, she remembered dodging Stone Edges, and she remembered a shaking... and that was it.

"Only bits and pieces. I remember we were fighting an upset, abandoned Gigalith, and there was this big shaking that came out of nowhere, and that's it." Cyan listened to her speak, and shuddered as he let out a deep breath.

"The Gigalith... used Earthquake to try and... try and drop a stalagtite on me. But you... you pushed me out of the way, and you got hit instead." His voice was quiet, as if he didn't want to talk about it, and he looked out the window as he finished his sentence, leaving Erin quiet and solomn. The Kojofu felt at her splint with her good arm, the soft yellow paw brushing against the hard, green plastic as she processed what Cyan had told her. Now that she thought about it, she did remember a stalagtite, and she did remember seeing it right above her, as well... as the last of her short-term memory loss faded out, she was left with a fuzzy, but still complete, picture of what had happened to her in the past few hours. She stared at Cyan, who continued to look through the glass at the city outside.

"But... you didn't get hurt, right?"

"I... Erin, I..."

"Yes?"

Cyan finally turned his head. "Thank you for saving my life."

She smiled. "It... it was nothing."

Cyan smiled at her before yelping in surprise as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him, squeezing him into a tight hug. Their skinny, blue-eyed, red-shirted trainer let out a quick 'morning, buddy." before turning towards Erin. His eyes widened, but his voice remained calm.

"Erin, you're awake. Are you feeling all right?" She shook her head no and pointed at her splint.

"Heh, I guess you already noticed that we got you patched up." He chuckled, and she nodded.

"Well, here's the plan: you're obviously not fit to travel until you get used to your new splint, so we're staying in Hodomoe for a couple more days. For now, I want you to stay in that bed and rest that arm. You might have some Regeneration ability that makes you heal faster, but I'm not going to have you pushing yourself too hard." The boy looked at Cyan, his bright blue eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Well... did you tell her yet?" He whispered, although Erin felt that Bill had deliberately spoken loudly enough for her to hear. Cyan blushed heavily and began to babble out a stream of gibberish, shaking his paws at their trainer's face before their trainer grasped the two fuzzy appendages and held them firmly, causing Cyan to stop moving. He laughed at the Futachimaru's antics before noogying his head, picking him up and lifting him onto his shoulders, face still squirming with concealed laughter.

"Erin, you stay here. Cyan and I will go get you something nice to eat." Erin began to protest – she didn't need special treatment just because she was hurt, and besides, this would delay their journey around Unova, and that would be bad and… and after looking deeply into her trainer's resolute eyes, she gave up with a frustrated sigh. Bill stood up, his shoes making a soft noise against the carpet as he walked to the door, and with a click, he opened it, making a gesture for Erin to stay where she was.

"We won't be gone for long. C'mon, Cyan." Cyan wiggled a bit, gave a quick, over-the-shoulder wave to Erin, and the two of them left the room, the door closing behind them. Erin stared at the door longingly for a few minutes, and then let out a grunt of unhappiness at her current situation.

"Fine. I can take care of myself anyway." She stomped on the squishy bed in frustration, causing her to flop onto the soft, downy pillow, causing her to yelp in surprise. As she unfurled herself from the fluffy cushion, she stared silently at the large, square piece of furniture before grinning wildly. With a deep breath, she jumped into the air and landed, bouncing even higher than she had jumped, and she fell onto her back, laughing as she did so. Yes... maybe she could find something to do in this room.

* * *

Cyan and Bill exited the Pokemon Center after giving a heaping helping of thank-yous to the nurse, and stood, unsure of where to go. Bill shivered from a sudden cold wind coming from the north, and Cyan looked down at him concernedly.

"It's nothing, Cyan, I'm fine. I'll just get a new jacket while we're here. Right now, we need to find a place to get Erin something to eat." Cyan nodded as his ride swerved directions, heading towards a large, well-covered tent.

"And, unless the locals were wrong, I know just the place..." He moved his hand forward to push away the flap, entering a large area full of people, tables, and all sorts of delicious food. Cyan eyed everything wondrously as the pair stepped through the crowd, browsing the selection of goods.

"Hodomoe Farmer's Market, the locals' pride and joy... er, actually, Cyan." Cyan let out a "Futachimaru?" of question and stared down at his trainer's head. "Do you... uh heh, know what Erin likes in terms of food?"

Cyan groaned, although he had to admit that there was a good reason for not knowing - other than the fact that they mostly ate the standard pokechow or the occasional restaurant meal, the language barrier sort of posed a problem for communication of favorite foods. Thinking for a moment, he pointed towards an area filled with meat, and the two made their way over. Bill stared down at the selection of products, scanning both their name tags and the price tags, before turning back to Cyan.

"So, buddy, what out of this does she like?" Cyan climbed down the front of Bill's shirt and hopped onto the ground to inspect the choices, although he had to stand on his tiptoes to get a decent view, and moved across the floor, looking at each and every item. A few of the choices, such as the freshly-caught Basurao and the imported Magikarp made his mouth water, but he realized that he needed to pick something Erin would like, not him, and made his way over to the other sections, seeing other options like ground Tauros meat and roasted Pidgey. He slightly wished that Farfetch'd were carried, but after browsing through Bill's Pokedex one sleepless night and reading about the outlawing of hunting the rare bird, he didn't get his hopes up.

"Hm. Cyan, why don't you stay here and pick something out while I go get something to drink? I know just what every Pokemon likes to drink when they're under the weather." His trainer grinned as he began to walk off. "And besides, this'll give you some alone time to think about telling her before I do!"

Cyan blanched, then blushed as his trainer cackled all the way to a nearby stand. Letting out a huff, he turned back to the delicious food and stood, not even paying attention to it as he stared at the floor, deep in thought. His trainer, tell Erin about how he felt?

...despite his better judgment, he wouldn't put it past Bill to spill the beans, especially after such a scare the day before. Then again, after said scare from the day before, and the short talk they'd had afterwards, he also knew that Bill knew that this would make him incredibly upset. Right? He had to understand that. He toyed with his Everstone pendant as he thought, spinning it round and round before grasping it tightly, eyes shining with an idea.

When was Erin going to evolve, anyway? She had always been carrying around a tiny stone that apparently increased her power due to her unevolved state, but he had no idea when or how she evolved. He knew that with the training that Bill had been putting him through, along with the harsh, but victorious, battle from yesterday, he would evolve soon were it not for his Everstone. Maybe, maybe Erin also evolved from extensive training? Or maybe she evolved from one of those fancy magic stones, like Eiko and Vivi had? He plucked one of his swordshells from his waistband on instinct, deftly spinning it around in his paw before smiling proudly. He really was beginning to use them like a professional. Nothing like how unwieldy he had attempted to use it as an Oshawott.

"Cyan!" A pair of fingers snapped in front of his face, and he was jolted out of his trance to see Bill squatting low in front of him, a small box in his hand, filled with six bottles of fresh, white Moomoo Milk. Cyan's eyes widened at the sight - the most delectable drink any Pokemon knew... well, maybe except soda or lemonade. Humans knew how to make delicious stuff. Well, Moomoo Milk, the most delectable and natural drink that every Pokemon wanted and few wild Pokemon tasted. He pointed at it and began to jabber uncontrollably. Bill laughed at him before patting him on the head.

"Now, now, buddy, this is for Erin." Cyan continued to babble, but the words did sink in. Of course it wasn't for him. Erin needed to recover, after all. "However, maybe she'll let you share some... if you ask nicely, of course."

Bill finished his sentence with a sly tone, and Cyan immediately stopped, which only made his trainer laugh harder. "C'mon, show me what you chose for her to eat and then we can head back. I can't believe how distracted I got... it's almost five in the afternoon, and we got up at... I dunno, like, ten in the morning." Cyan jumped what felt like thirty feet in the air in surprise. Seven hours? It had only seemed like a few minutes. Panicking, he thrust his paw out at a random area, and Bill looked over to see a small, boxed-lunch-style plate of meat loaf. He scanned over the price tag, eyes narrow, then smiled at Cyan.

"Good choice, Cyan. I think she'll like this." As he waved over the stall owner to buy the food, Cyan breathed out, panic fading, and climbed up Bill's shirt to sit on his shoulders. Bill shook the man's hand and took the meat loaf, and they began to walk back to the Pokemon Center. The sun was still somewhat high in the sky, and they paused a moment to watch the Hodomoe Drawbridge getting pulled back up, a boat blowing its horn to pass through the canal.

"Cyan? Can I give you some advice?" Cyan looked down and nodded. What could Bill possibly want?

"Actions speak louder than words." Cyan went as stiff as a board, gripping his trainer's hair tightly as he laughed, breaking into a quick jog. Somehow, all that did was make him more nervous.

* * *

Erin rolled over to her side, jolting awake as she heard the door move. As her eyes fluttered open, she saw her trainer walking into the room, carrying a box and a six-pack of white bottles. Cyan sat on his shoulders, looking decidedly off. She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes with her good hand (wincing slightly when she instinctively attempted to use her other hand), and began to make her way off of the bed. Before she could land, Bill had quickly moved over and grabbed her, gently setting her down on the floor. Cyan hopped off of Bill's shoulders and stood next to her.

"Alright, Erin. We found something for you at the farmer's market. Cyan picked out your meal, and I got you something to drink that I think will help you heal quicker." He patted one of the white bottles. "You can start eating if you want, but I'm gonna be out for a while longer - I need to buy myself another jacket before winter finally arrives, and I think it'd be good to get that done sooner rather than later."

Bill stood up, and Cyan strolled over to him before being buffeted by a hand. "No, Cyan. I want you to stay here."

Cyan looked at him, and noticed him wink. He blushed, but nodded to show that he understood. Bill smiled, rose, and waved before walking out the door, leaving Erin and Cyan to look at each other silently. Cyan let out an awkward chuckle.

"Well... uh... I guess it's time for you to eat." Cyan picked Erin up gingerly and attempted to climb up onto the table where the food sat, but continued to lose his grip. Erin flipped over onto his back so that he would have an easier time, and Cyan blushed as he felt the warm breath on his neck. He finally made it to the top of the table, and Erin hopped off of his back, sitting down and opening the box containing the meat loaf. She sliced off a small piece with her claws and began to eat. Cyan simply sat nearby, thinking quietly. Erin looked at him.

"You know, if you want some of this, you can have some." Cyan seemed to brighten up as he walked over and sat next to her, slicing the meat loaf with his swordshells and taking a piece in his paws. Slowly, he chewed it, letting the slightly spiced flavor roll around in his mouth, and swallowed. Erin patted his back.

"Are you alright? You've been acting off since you came back with Bill." Cyan looked away, then shook his head.

"...No. I'm not." He shuffled so that his back was turned, and Erin heard him doing... something. Something that made scratchy sounds like her claws on a chalkboard. She tried to look over his shoulder, but he hunched his back so that she couldn't. Letting out a huff, she brought her attention back to the loaf. They stayed that way for a few minutes, Cyan working busily on whatever it was while Erin ate.

"Cyan, what are you doing?" She put her paw on his shoulder and squeezed. "You don't have to keep secrets from me."

Cyan froze in place and she heard the sound of his swordshells cleanly cutting through something. She waited and watched him turn, holding something in his paw. His eyes were deadly serious. "...Cyan?"

Slowly, he took her good paw in his, rolling it over to open her palm, and he pressed something cold and hard into it before closing her fist and placing his other paw on top. She wriggled her fingers around the item, noting the rough texture and the strange feeling it gave her. She looked at Cyan's closed eyes and bowed head, and felt her cheeks grow hot with confusion.

"Will you accept this gift from me?" He said, almost inaudibly, and he kissed her paw before letting go of it, causing both their faces to flush. Cyan stepped back, head still bowed, and Erin opened her paw to reveal a small, soft gray piece of stone. She turned it over, noting the odd markings around a flattened side of it. She held it close to her before speaking.

"Thank you, Cyan, but... what is it?"

The otter seemed to sigh before grasping something at his chest. Erin gasped - he had cut his Everstone pendant in half. She stared at the stone in her hand as if it was a foreign object before dropping it onto the table, where it made a modestly loud plink.

"Cyan... this is... but... why?" Cyan turned and looked at her, and she was surprised to see that his eyes seemed red with tears.

"Because... oh..." He grunted out of frustration. "Dammit... why is this so hard to do!"

Cyan stomped on the table furiously, and Erin shied away to let him vent his unhappiness. His mind was racing - was she mad at him? Why did she drop it? Why was this so difficult to say? He felt a paw on his shoulder, and he stopped moving.

"Cyan... thank you... for the Everstone. But, please, I just want to know why..." She trailed off. Cyan's mind seemed to clear of all thoughts, and he trembled a little before whipping around and pressing his lips on hers. She felt her stomach turn to butterflies. He blushed profusely. And they both didn't hear the door open, a green jacket swishing inside.

"Woah!" Bill yelped as the two Pokemon turned to look at him, embarrassed looks plastered on their faces, and the pair leapt apart to try and salvage the situation. Bill smiled somewhat calmly as the otter and the weasel attempted to hide their blushes. "Oh! I, uh... heh, I'll go take Refia for a walk."

He left the room, chuckling slightly, and the door clicked closed again, leaving Cyan and Erin in silence. Cyan turned away from Erin, his face wistful as he stared at the window, and Erin walked up to him, standing at his side. He let out a deep sigh of annoyance, folding his arms and ducking his head, and Erin gave him a calm look.

"This didn't go at all the way I wanted it to." He said, and Erin blushed before she felt him pressing something into her palm again. This time, she held the Everstone tightly to her chest, feeling the evolution-stunting energies washing over her, and she smiled, nuzzling Cyan's cheek affectionately. She saw him stiffen and she laughed at him.

"You need to loosen up a little, Cyan…" She said coyly, a teasing tone creeping into her voice. "I don't think I'll be able to put up with a mate who freezes every time we do something nice together."

That broke his trance, and he playfully pushed Erin's good shoulder. "You're one to talk – you froze up back in Sanyou, when you punched out Refia, remember?"

"Y-yeah, but that was because we had just met!" She smiled as Cyan began to go back to his typical self. Was this all that was wrong with him? Silly.

"Doesn't matter!" He shot back, beginning to laugh uncontrollably. Erin felt herself bark out a chuckle as well, and soon the room filled up with the merry noise. Bill took that moment to re-enter the room, and soon the lights were out and Erin was snoozing in the cozy Pokemon bed, cuddling into Cyan's chest.

* * *

_"Cyan?"_

_ "Mmm?"_

_ "I just wanted to know... that day... why did you kiss me? Why didn't you just tell me how you felt?"_

_ "Well, I was nervous... and Bill had told me something earlier."_

_ "What did he say?"_

_ "He said,_ 'actions speak louder than words.'_"_

_"...did he now..."_

_ "Yeah. And you know what?_

_ "What?"_

_ "I think he was right."_


End file.
